Security on the Internet

Try using the Mozilla Thunderbird email client. It has quite good built in junk mail filtering that you can 'train' by marking mail as junk so that it will know in the future. You can also set up filters, e.g. to put any mail with a particular word in the address into the junk or waste folder. It is free & I'm sure a quick look on a search engine will bring up the website.

I am a long-time AOL user and have few problems with spam -- just the occasional one. What I do have a problem with is telehone "spam" -- endless calls over many months, mainly from people acting on behalf of the Rogers company. They almost never leave a message on the voice mail. They must have spent hundreds of dollars harassing me.

grumpyoldwoman

No, it is not just you - I am irritated by the increasing number of people who telephone me and ask 'security questions'.

I am ex-directory and registered with the Telephone Preference Service so I always ask the caller how they obtained my number, this usually results in the caller hanging up immediately. If they refuse to answer the question or give some feeble excuse like "you completed a survey form" (I never do) then I hang up.

If, on the rare occasion that the caller has obtained my number from a valid source e.g. a friend and it is company which is of interest to me I ask for their telephone number and call them, usually there is no problem with this and the telephone number is often a toll-free one.

This is more about telephone security, but it started with aol & I can't find a more appropriate gripe, so here goes.

I had a call a couple of days ago from someone claiming to be calling from aol. He then asked me to answer some security questions. I said " Hang on, you called me! Why do I have to give you my details?" He explained that they needed to verify that I was the account holder. Was I likely to be an intruder who'd temporarily stopped burgling my house to answer the phone? I refused as I didn't know if he really was from aol, and added that if it was sales call
I wasn't interested anyway.

I have emailed aol and they told me it's standard practice. I then called the data protection office who told me that alot of companies and banks do this now.

So... we are supposed to be security conscious and not give out pesonal details over the phone unless we know who we are talking to; but if someone claiming to be from our bank, isp, or any utility company calls us we are supposed to give them personal details. They apparently don't have to prove who they are.

Is this mad or is it me?

That's helpful, Terry.

"and where possible, stick to official websites."

What is an 'official website'? How does one recognise such an animal?

I don't think the internet is safe. Ignore any emails whose sender you don't know, and where possible, stick to official websites.

To update this I managed to get another service provider and waited 10 days for my line to be purged in order not to need a migration code(most isp's dont't tell you that the line legaly has to be cleared) and was useing it o.k.
The only thing is that Orange took a cacellation fee from my bank account using my debit card details without notifying me or gaining my permission.They used these details from a previous transaction.
So be very carefull with Orange as they tend to stick their fingers in the till in order to get money out of you.Also I judge an isp by their Technical support which in Oranges case is non existant.

After the initial 12 months and being coerced into another 12 months at a cheaperrate that was when things started going wrong.And Oranges so called support staff I found to be inept ill mannered and downright stupid.I had a friend who needed their help and she ended up in tears because of their ill mannered and forcefule aproch towards customer service.The sooner I can lose them the better.

Have been with Orange broadband for 12 months and have had little trouble with sex,drug related or fraud money laundering emails.
Also I have had little connection or technical problems.
Don't regret leaving AOL one bit. I still check AOL mail occasionally and remove all the rubbish phishing and drug,sex related mails but would never go back to using them as an ISP again.

Hello Bob

Have you tried a free program called "mailwasher" just google those word's.This program shows e-mail's without letting the sender knowing you have veiwed them and block's all spam and you can bounce them back to sender as if your e-mail address is closed so the spammer cant bother you and the person who's pc he's controlling to send these e-mail's will now be aware he's hacked.Ive got the same problem's you have and these people persist then drop off for week's and then try again but the e-mail addresses they use are shocking as these are people's pc's who are not protected.If you or any other person out there want's a decent software security package for free with no catche's whatsoever then try "comodo" (just google that word)a company giving away lifetime subscription's with updates to all there antivirus&firewall software etc.If you want something else try microsoft for there free version for 9 month's of the same package they sell at present for around £45,just google windows live onecare.Spyware remover's are ad-aware se personal and spybot search and destroy who work wonder's and dont require rocket science and are both free.

aol advised me for nearly a year to send my unwanted drug related e-mails to Cosmail 1 and Cosmail 2...I sent hundreds...when they did nothing...they then stated that Cosmail 1 and Cosmail 2 were only for Americans that had drug related e-mail problems...then they asked me to use Cosuk and Cosfiles...guess what...I sent dozens and they still do nothing...aol have been infiltrated by druggies and they cannot solve my problem.

same as bob...drug nuisance e-mails on aol...hundreds...yes...hundreds In a 12 month period...they mainly come from Canada...aol say they can do nothing about them...yet I pay £24.99 a month for drug e-mails...aol should be held responsible..It Is ruining my enjoyment of broadband connection...they will not let me change my main screen name to stop them...aol Is not a helpful broadband provider.